Battered Asteroid a Survivor From Solar System's Birth

The asteroid Lutetia at closest approach as seen by Europe's Rosetta spacecraft in July 2010.

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Inner Solar System Evolution

Credit: ESO/L. Calçada and N. Risinger (skysurvey.org)

This artist’s impression shows the development of the inner solar system over nearly five billion years. Top: the earliest stage, where the debris disc…Read More »

around the sun was composed of gas and tiny particles. Second panel: the particles have formed large clumps, similar to the asteroid Lutetia. Third panel: These bodies in turn formed the rocky planets, including Earth. Fourth panel: Earth's surface evolved into what we recognize today, after four billion years of meteor bombardment. Less «

Asteroid Lutetia: Target in Sight

These photos show several images of asteroid Lutetia as the Rosetta spacecraft closed in on July 10, 2010 during a flyby. The first image was taken about…Read More »

9.5 hours before closest approach, 510,000 kilometers from the asteroid, the last one about 1.5 hours before closest approach, 81,000 km from the asteroid. The resolution changes from 9.6 km per pixel to 1.5 km per pixel. Less «

Asteroid Lutetia Seen by OSIRIS July 2010 2

OSIRIS clear filter image taken during the flyby of the Rosetta spacecraft at asteroid Lutetia on July 10, 2010.

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Comparative Sizes of Eight Asteroids

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/JAXA/ESA

This composite image shows the comparative sizes of eight asteroids. Until now, Lutetia, with a diameter of 81 miles (130 kilometers), was the largest…Read More »

asteroid visited by a spacecraft, which occurred during a flyby. Vesta, which is also considered a protoplanet because it's a large body that almost became a planet, dwarfs all other small bodies in this image, with diameter of approximately 330 miles (530 km). Less «